How to Actually See Reality (And Why It Changes Everything)

Brian Ritzner here. Today I wanted to share with you the importance of not getting into fantasy when reality hits. We tend to, as human beings, escape into a fantasy, the wishful thinking. What would it be like if this didn't happen, or it happened this way and that way? And this imagination has an extremely important function, as we can expand the possibilities. Without such an exploration of imagination, we can only do so much. We need to have some sort of ambition or go beyond what's possible in a current state. It all requires imagination. But when it comes to when you do execution, you really need to ground yourself in reality. The funny thing about the reality is, if you just think about the reality, it's not fun, it's not interesting, whatever. But actually, when you really face the reality and it solves problems, it's a lot more interesting, more difficult than you could possibly imagine. That's the thing that people don't want to face. Why the reality is difficult is because it's harder than when you imagine things. Of course, if you keep living in a fantasy, then you might forget about the reality and you could live, but then most likely your life in reality will deteriorate, just because we're living in reality, not in a fantasy. Our mind creates the model of reality, and it's always important. You can indulge once in a while, and it's important as a strategic purpose, but always go back to check your mental model of the reality by looking around. Look around, explore, expose yourself to the idea that you'd probably disagree or an idea that you never wanted to hear. You have nothing really to worry about contaminating your mind or anything, if that's the reality. If it's a reality, then it is so. It makes you just stronger and wiser. Otherwise, if you're sheltered in a goodness fantasy land, then you're not prepared, and that's not strategic. As I said, the imagination, the fantasy, is the exploration thing. When you explore, at the end of the day, you're going to encounter some sort of reality, the facts, the evidence that kind of hurts or it might surprise you. Those are your evidence. Don't ignore it. When the reality gives you the answer, that should be your priority to accept, because all what you've done so far is to find out the reality, really. If you get that priority straight, which is not putting your fantasy above the reality, but then fantasy is to interface with the reality, then your life will improve, because you're going to have a better judgment that is based on reality. Oftentimes, when we encounter the inconvenient truth or reality, then what we do is rationalize. The rationalization is only a very edge case, that it's almost necessary. It means there's no solutions. It's better to not know, because there's nothing you could do to solve these problems. It's a terminal case, generally speaking. But other than that, even though it's a heartbreaking truth, it's always better never to rationalize. The more you have a confidence in yourself that you can actually handle the truth, that itself is extremely necessary. Keep believing that you are the great guy, even if you're not, then you will continue to do the damage not only to yourself, but everybody else as well. It's actually being honest in your assessment of yourself. That's you will lose the perspective or tools to truly change your life for the better, because you don't want to face your own problems that you really need to solve. It's really not escaping from a reality, it's about really appreciating the reality or respect the reality. The core theme really is that the best future comes from reality, not from your fantasies. No matter what kind of reality you're living in, it could be hard. As long as you can overcome the difficulties, actually humans thrive on it. The difficulty is actually the essence of humans. Believe it or not, if you get rid of all the difficulties, humans get so bored, and then you just want to kill yourself. The fantasy that you expand, and then the edge that the reality pushes back. That area that you wanted to be in, and then you can handle or you will struggle to handle such a reality. That's your chance to learn what's out there. When it comes to facing the reality, that doesn't really mean that if something's so difficult or anything, then not taking medication or anything like that. Sometimes you got to be rational. It's a modern society, you got to use the tools, medicines, and whatever. But then you have to be careful that how much you should take, who you consult with, if there is an alternative, and so on. When you do that, you will encounter your mistakes, but that's the part of the reality that's pushing you back. Don't think like something's not working, and it thinks that it's working. If you are deluding yourself, and then just keep pushing it, pushing it, just that time will pass by. You believe in somebody that's giving you the fantasy, like, oh, you're great, whatever. You might be great, but it's better to be grounded. It's not having the fantasies, but control your fantasies. If somebody promised you something, for the promise and all that, it's all pretty much bullshit. You got to figure out yourself. It's not that easy. Then it's very individualized when you go to your own directions. So nobody can say, okay, if you do this, you're going to be that. It's nothing that easy. But then there is a principle that you have to go through, which is to figure out yourself, go step by step, and so on and so forth. But as long as you do not escape in the fantasy, use that fantasy as a tool to move forward, you'll eventually get to where you really want to be, or the reality will surprise you in a far better way. Thank you for watching. 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